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Day: 24 September 2012

Retro Corner: Lylat Wars

Written by Matthew Humphreys on . Posted in Games.

Lylat Wars was launched alongside the N64 and is, in my opinion, one of the strongest titles of that generation. A single run through of the game would only take a couple of hours but there were several routes available between the first and final level, which made for a potentially different experience and combination of stages with each play through. Although the successor of Starwing (SNES), Lylat Wars dropped the obnoxious difficulty in favour of allowing you to pick easy, medium or hard levels and customise their route between the first and final stage. The ability to customise your route allowed you to tailor the difficulty to your ability. An additional expert mode became available after full completion of the game for anyone requiring a tougher challenge.

The real addictive quality of this game was the arcade style high scores. I would spend many hours with friends trying to push each other off the leader board. Mixing this addictive feature with the ability to choose the route from the first to final level meant you had to be smart and pick the route you thought you would be able to get the highest score on, balancing the difficulty of the route with the points you could achieve. Multiplayer was a solid experience, with decent player vs. player dogfights; it was a fun addition to the incredibly solid single player mode.

In my opinion the real appeal of Lylat Wars was the ability to customise the experience to have you play your way, whether you wanted easy, medium or hard single player, to fight directly against your friends or to compete to see who could achieve the best score in single player. The variety available made for a long lasting experience that easily ate up many rainy afternoons.

Gamers get social

Written by Robert Muirhead on . Posted in Games.

Gamers have sadly always attracted derogatory social labels, such as shut-in, anorak or sad case. In the early ’90s one needed to plead with their parents to buy the latest console release, or required IT proficiency to acquire and install anything that came close to a game on PC. It’s no wonder we are often stereotyped as a shy, immature, and nervous demographic. But with the growth of gaming over the last decade, this view is gradually changing. Increased interactivity in-game is demanding the same of gamers in real life. As the gaming industry surpasses every other market in entertainment, businesses have taken note.

Kyoto Lounge is one such example. Located on Grosvenor Street beside other popular pubs and clubs, it offers the hire of computers or consoles alongside more typical bar food and booze. Unlike an internet café or arcade, the emphasis is on socialising rather than convenience. One can walk in, grab a beer and a controller, and immediately be playing and talking with someone hitherto unknown. There’s enjoyment to be had in fighting or racing a physical person, rather than some nameless avatar across the internet. When you start playing, you don’t know whether or not you’re about to be schooled by the guy sitting next to you, adding a little intrigue to the experience. Casual and non-gamers often become regulars – pulled in by the novelty of a gaming bar, then pleasantly surprised by the social environment.

In many circumstances, it isn’t necessary to be playing anything at all. Alongside the casual and social, competitive gaming has grown more mainstream than ever. International tournaments fly players around the world to compete for hundred-thousand dollar prize pools – one such recent event received more viewers globally than the Diamond Jubilee. Fans turn out in droves to support their favourite pro-gamers, whilst those unable to attend watch online or at organised local broadcasts.

Kyoto Lounge in particular holds regular Barcrafts: live-streaming the real-time strategy Starcraft 2 from around the world to a local audience, paralleling the way pubs show big football matches. The scope and variety of competitive play makes these appealing for supporters, whether they seek to discuss tactics in a friendly environment or simply enjoy the company of their compatriots. Whilst free to attend, the food and drink provided ensure the bar isn’t making a loss, and patrons can rent out a PC or two afterwards to test their strategies against each other. For games played competitively on a smaller scale, local tournaments can be arranged. Games like Tekken and Street Fighter are regularly played to a professional level at the bar.

Barcrafts and tournaments like these are not unique. Though uncommon in the UK, hundreds of Barcrafts spring up across the globe whenever a large event is underway, and arcades have held fighting tourneys for years. Though it seems contrary, most gamers have never truly lived solitary lifestyles. Expos and conventions occur with regularity as a place for the industry to promote their wares, attracting a particularly geeky crowd. Play Expo is one such event in Manchester, exhibiting the latest, yet to be released generation of consoles alongside other aspects of gaming culture. LAN parties have existed since the dawn of gaming – the suggestion that without somewhere like Kyoto we’d be sitting alone in darkened rooms avoiding society at large is archaic at best.

Kyoto isn’t an attempt to make gamers socialise, and shouldn’t be sold as such. It’s a business. There is a largely untapped gap in the market for a dedicated adult gaming environment. Arguably gimmicky in the past, they run a sustainable model in an ever-expanding market. They aren’t just competing with expos and other large digital events – those are for dedicated gamers alone – they appeal to all types of gamer, particularly the largely untapped casual and social variety. Entrepreneurs and firms are following in their footsteps in major cities, both in the UK and across the world. In the long term, we can expect gaming to become a big feature in even the most mainstream of social venues. All those children brought up on a diet of Nintendo and PlayStation are adults now, and they’ve got money to burn.

Odeon cinema listings 1st – 8th October

Written by Sophie James on . Posted in Film.

 

Head down to the Odeon, AMC, Cineworld or the Cornerhouse.

HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET (15)

DIRECTOR: MARK TONDERAI

STARRING: JENNIFER LAWRENCE, MAX THIERIOT

RUNNING TIME: 101 MIN

GENRE: THRILLER

SHOWING:  1330, 1600, 1830, 2100  (MONDAYS: 1830, 2100)

 

HYSTERIA (15)

DIRECTOR: TANYA WEXLER

STARRING: MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, HUGH DANCY, JONATHAN PRYCE

RUNNING TIME: 99 MIN

GENRE: ROM COM

SHOWING: 1515, 1745, 2025 (MONDAYS: 2025)

 

TO ROME WITH LOVE (12A)

DIRECTOR: WOODY ALLEN

STARRING: PENELOPE CRUZ, ELLEN PAGE, WOODY ALLEN, JESSE EISENBERG

RUNNING TIME: 112 MIN

GENRE: ROM COM

SHOWING: WEDNESDAYS AND THURSDAYS,  1750

 

SAVAGES (15)

DIRECTOR: OLIVER STONE

STARRING: AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON, TAYLOR KITSCH, BLAKE LIVELY, BENICIO DEL TORO

RUNNING TIME: 130 MIN

GENRE: THRILLER

SHOWING: 1520, 1820, 2120 (MONDAYS: 1820, 2120)

 

 

OUT THIS WEEK:

 

LOOPER (15)

 

DIRECTOR: RIAN JOHNSON

STARRING: JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT, BRUCE WILLIS, EMILY BLUNT

 

RUNNING TIME: 119 MIN

GENRE: SCI FI, ACTION

 

CINEMA INFO:

 

ODEON Manchester ,
The Printworks, 
27 Withy Grove, Manchester
, M4 2BS


Scandal and Debauchery in the Round

Written by Joshua Harris on . Posted in Theatre.

Four out of five stars

As a drama student and avid theatre goer for many years, it is with some shame that I admit that, before The Country Wife, I had never seen a piece of theatre in the round. Now that my round virginity has been broken however, I have grown quite attached to the format. It produces a far more intimate relationship between the audience and the performers, which is perfect for a play full of asides and small nods and winks to the audience. And just such a play is William Wycherley’s The Country Wife.

Written in 1675 and transported, powdered wigs and all, into the Twenty-first Century by director Polly Findlay, the plot makes Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors seem blissfully straightforward. The womanising cad, Mr Horner, returns from a trip to France with a devilish plan to seduce the entire female population of London by pretending to be a eunuch. Meanwhile, the well-meaning but possessive Mr Pinchwife has just returned to London with his newlywed country wife, Margery, whom he keeps locked up for fear that she will fall into the clutches of Mr Horner, which, of course, she inevitably does.

Meanwhile, Mr Pinchwife’s sister Alithea, who is engaged to loveable moron Mr Sparklish, is being pursued by Mr Harcourt, friend of Mr Horner, goaded on all the while by her maid Lucy. Keeping up? I haven’t even mention the Squeamish family yet, or the Dainty-Fidgets!

There were points where I found myself going “wait, what? Who’s that now?” That said, it’s a testament to the cast and the production that I never completely lost track of the various plot-threads. I’d rather be in a state of bemused, confused enjoyment than being patronised by characters spelling out every twist and turn to me. The acting is solid throughout. Special mention should be made for Oliver Gomm, who throws himself into the role of the oafish Mr Sparklish with Gusto. Amy Morgan, the titular “country wife” possesses naivety and childishness, coupled with a divine Welsh accent. She is so wonderful you just want to run onto stage and give her a hug!

The set, designed by Helen Goddard, is a master class in effective simplicity, all chintz armchairs and wig stands. Complete with running wine taps and a sort of antler chandelier, nothing ever seems overcrowded or unnecessary. Set changes are accompanied by Jimi Hendrix riffs played on screeching violins, a nice little reminder of the contemporary edge the production is putting on the story.

All in all, if you like your comedies intelligent, relentless, bawdy and, above all, round, then The Country Wife is definitely worth a look.

 

The Country Wife runs at the Royal Exchange Theatre until October 20th

Borderlands 2 – Review

Written by Alasdair Preston on . Posted in Games.

5 out of 5 stars

There are a lot of enemies that need killing in Borderlands 2. From the wide variety of dangerous beasties, to the vicious locals, to the private robot army of one amusing jerk known as Handsome Jack, there is no shortage of things wanting Vault Hunters dead. It’s good, then, that there are so very many guns to kill them with. 87 bazillion of them, if the developers at Gearbox are to be believed.

Borderlands 2 is a well-worked fusion of shooting, looting, role playing and co-operative play. All the pick-ups are procedurally generated, ensuring that you will almost never find two items the same. The compulsive need to scour every area, just in case, one chest contains an extremely rare weapon becomes powerful fast.

As well as a meaty and entertaining main story, Borderlands 2 packs a healthy proportion of side quests to be tracked down and completed for extra XP and potentially rare loot. Earning XP helps your character progress along the skill tree, allowing them to choose from a wide range of new abilities. Each of the four character classes has their own unique action skill and skill tree to match. For example, the slightly mad Gunzerker can temporarily duel wield any two guns and go on a spree, whereas the more reserved Commando can deploy a powerful turret.

For maximum fun, Borderlands 2 should be played with a group of friends either online or locally. Roaming around the visually impressive landscape of Pandora in a heavy duty vehicle running over and/or shooting every living thing is much more satisfying if you’ve got a friend or three to share the road.

Borderlands 2 is a proper sequel that never takes itself too seriously and vastly improves on its predecessor. It has more guns, more environments, more enemies, more laughs. Put simply, it has more.

‘Barbara’

Written by Sophie James on . Posted in Film.

Following my accidental “films in a foreign language” theme, our Cornerhouse Pick of the Week is the German film Barbara.

Set in 1980s East Germany, Barbara is the tale of a physician trying to live and practise amidst the bleak landscape of Cold War Germany.

Wishing to leave the German Democratic Republic, physician Barbara (Nina Hoss) files for an exit visa, but instead finds herself banished from Berlin to a small country hospital. This is the story of the encounters and problems she experiences, even whilst leading a supposedly sedate and tranquil country lifestyle. Barbara finds herself torn between her desire for freedom and her duty as a doctor, her love for a man and her devotion to her patients. Facing love and friendship amidst turmoil and suspicion- the film starkly depicts the difficulties of daily life experienced by everyone during the Cold War.

Barbara is directed by German director Christian Petzold, and is the fourth film to see him working with his muse Nina Hoss. This combination obviously works, as the film won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, and has also been selected as Germany’s entry for this year’s Oscars.

Bleak but brilliant – Barbara is a must-see and is out on the 28th September.

Top 5: Films that make men cry

Written by Joshua Brown on . Posted in Film.

5) Twilight (every minute of every one): I have to confess I have never sat through longer than seven seconds of any of the Twilight films, I don’t even know how many there are. Seven seconds is more than enough to conclude that any man who has sat through a Twilight film would be reduced to uncontrollable tears.

4) Saving Private Ryan: This is the curveball of the five because it’s a compelling all-action World War II blockbuster, not your traditional tearjerker. But, a combination of Spielberg’s enthralling opening scene at Normandy, along with the heroic deaths of many comrades-in-arms, results in an overwhelming emotional experience.

3) Green Mile: Tom Hanks’ wonderful performance as the inspirational prison guard will leave his male viewers weeping uncontrollably. This is a film with great character development mixed with a compelling story; add in an array of fantastic performances, and the result, a perfect cocktail to shed a tear.

2) One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest: A simply wonderful and engrossing film with an ending that will cause even the toughest of lads to reach for the Kleenex. The ray of sunlight that emerges from such a dark and depressing ending only intensifies the low-pitched sobbing.

1) Bambi: Describing this film as the biggest tearjerker of all time is understating the affect this seventy-year-old Disney classic has had on many men. A tale of a young deer whose mother is shot by hunters, Bambi portrayed every child’s biggest fear, and this fear can resurface at any time resulting in grown men blubbering at a cartoon.

Review: ‘Lawless’

Written by Andrew Home on . Posted in Film.

Much like director John Hillcoat’s last film The Road, Lawless is a story of families surviving. Now its Prohibition era America rather than the apocalypse and The Road’s father and son have become three intensely loyal Bondurant brothers. Lawless, however, is a far less unrelenting film than The Road and suffers for it. Ultimately, it’s solid direction and gripping story (with a charmingly authentic screenplay by long time Hillcoat collaborator Nick Cave) redeem it from being a missed opportunity but it certainly lacks the bite of Hillcoat’s previous work.

Forrest (Tom Hardy), Howard (Jason Clarke), and Jack (Shia LaBeouf) make moonshine  and defend their profession with brutal ferocity. Jack dreams of bigger things, fancy cars and expensive suits much to the annoyance of his two older siblings. Early on they give local sheriffs a few jars of their finest product so that they’ll look the other way. That is until Special Agent Charlie Rakes (played with a constant, menacing sneer by Guy Pearce) arrives from Chicago to put an end to their business and, potentially, their lives. The film really goes out of its way to establish just how evil the foppish Rakes is. Pearce is clearly trying his best to be anything less than completely obvious but his efforts get lost amidst the noise of scenes which serve no purpose other than to make sure you know what a villain he is when the issue was never in much doubt to begin with.

For all the subtlety that Rakes lacks, it can be found in droves in Hardy’s Forrest, who may well be one of the characters of the year. Much like in the excellent Bronson, Hardy plays a man capable of extreme violence, but Forrest is not the crazed sadist that Bronson was. His violence is never for show and is always done purposefully: to protect himself and those around him.  He is a man of closeted emotions, so much so that when new arrival Maggie Beauford (Jessica Chastain) begins to show signs of affection, Forrest reacts with a schoolboy shyness which makes him so much more than just another violent thug.

In the end, Forrest shines so brightly that he drowns the rest of the film out. The Road managed to arrange all of its parts into a far greater whole but Lawless has to content itself with being a film of impressive surface but little substance.

Preview: ‘Taken 2’

Written by Andrew Home on . Posted in Film.

Taken (2008) may have left many of those who went to see it with the impression that there was no one in Europe left for Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) to kill. Apparently there are enough caricatured Albanian gangsters left to warrant a sequel, the simply titled Taken 2. The action now moves from Paris to Istanbul where Bryan, his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace, who somehow managed to come out of the last film completely unscathed) and now friendly ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Jannsen) are on holiday. Lenore is promptly captured by some more of those pesky Albanians and Bryan goes off to find her while Kim is left to fend for herself.

The plot isn’t what makes people want to go and see Taken though, it’s the opportunity to turn one’s brain off and put your feet up while an unreasonably big body count piles up before you. It’s a typical Luc Besson (who writes and produces both of the Taken movies) film where the ridiculous nature of the plot is only overshadowed by the even more ridiculous violence. Taken 2 will certainly bring more of the same sort of thrill that the original did, sure the director’s changed but that hardly matters. The appropriately named, Olivier Megaton directs this time who, like previous director Pierre Morel, has worked with Besson on a number of projects before, including the critically panned Hitman (2007).

So perhaps the story will be weak and the violence silly, but at least this means that there’s another film with Liam Neeson in it who has proved over the past couple of years just how intriguing an action star he can be. Anyone who saw the absolutely mesmerising, The Grey earlier this year will surely agree.

Societies Events Listings – 2nd – 5th October

Written by Kate Bullivant on . Posted in Societies.

SOCIETY EVENTS LISINTGS

Monday 1st October

PANTO SOCIETY – AUDITIONS

Club Undergroud, North Campus Student’s Union: 17 30 till late.

The Panto Society beginning of year auditions. Held in the Northern Campus, but there is a ‘walking bus’ leaving the University of Manchester Student’s Union at 5 30 if you feel you might get lost. It’s a chance you to meet them and vice versa, with some fun games, a bit of dance and some script reading.

STUDENT RUN SELF HELP (SRSH) – B-EAT

Student’s Union, Room 4: 16 30 – 17 30

B-eat’s first meeting, B-eat offers peer support for people with eating disorders.

‘We believe that students should always have the time and space to talk about mental health in a supportive environment.” SRSH

Tuesday 2nd October

PANTO SOCIETY  – Second day of Auditions

Club Undergroud, North Campus Student’s Union: 17 30 till late

ZUMBA CLASSES – £3

Student’s Union, Khaled Said Room/Council Chambers: 17 00 – 18 00

Women for Women International Soc hosts a weekly Zumba class for only £3.This amazing charity helps women of war all around the world, and all money raised goes straight to the charity.

Wednesday 3rd October

CIRCUS SKILLS

Burlington Society: 14 00 – 15 00

Circus Skills is an opportunity to do something different and fun with your Wednesday afternoon, anyone is welcome – whether you can juggle or not!

DANCE SOCIETY

Manchester University Student Union, Academy 2:  14 00 – 16 00

Manchester Street Dance Team Auditions.

Want to be part of a wicked prize-winning hip-hop dance team? NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! Come audition for your chance to be a part of this great opportunity to have fun, make new friends, perform, compete and most importantly DANCE!

Thursday 4th October

RAW MANCHESTER ROCKS SOCIETY

Hardy’s Well – Rusholme: 20 00 – 21 00

The Manchester Rocks Society has a weekly social from 8pm until late. Go along, have a drink and find out what they are all about.